Employee Allegedly Promised Pay during Maternity Leave but is Fired When She Requests Pay

Shakima began working with Comcast in 2008, and during her career with the company, she became a business account executive. She worked hard to troubleshoot advanced tech problems and helped to manage personal accounts. Within the company, she was a model employee.

In 2015, Shakima became pregnant and found out that it was a high-risk pregnancy. Five months before she was due, Shakima applied for short-term disability and maternity leave through FMLA. She followed company policy and submitted her paperwork to Comcast’s third-party administrator. In December, Shakima submitted her additional paperwork, even though it wasn’t technically due until March. Shakima remembers that at the end of December she received approval to take 6 weeks of maternity leave, and Comcast promised to pay her 100% of her regular rate of pay during her maternity leave.

Then, in January, Shakima recalled that more FMLA paperwork was mailed to her. Although she noticed redundancies in the paperwork, she completed the paperwork and returned it. A few weeks later, Shakima was denied short-term disability, but then, the company asked for additional paperwork about the short-term disability before mid-March. Although Shakima had successfully submitted these forms already in January, she and her physician completed the forms.

Shakima worked up until the end of February when her high-risk pregnancy forced her to go on leave. After giving birth to her child, Shakima remembered that she received a denial for short-term disability and intermittent FMLA leave. A week later, another letter arrived denying her FMLA leave.

At this point, Shakima went to Human Resources to try to open a dialogue about returning to work and requesting the whole of her promised pay during her maternity leave. When her questions went unanswered, Shakima checked with the third-party company about policy for returning to work. According to Shakima, she approached Comcast for the policy for returning to work, but she was told that her work documentation was not adequate. Shakima did her best to fulfill the requested documents, but the company failed to offer her a solid return date.

She never received 100% of her pay rate for her maternity leave, and Comcast terminated Shakima. She believes that the company discriminated against her for her pregnancy, FMLA leave, and short-term disability claim. As a client of KM&A, Shakima is fighting for her right to equal treatment in the workplace. KM&A advocates on behalf of men and women like Shakima who suffer discrimination and termination due to seeking their legal employee rights.

Full text of this complaint, as filed with the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is available at docket no: 2:17-cv-01067-CRE

Kraemer, Manes & Associates LLC is an employment law firm with principal offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, serving all counties in Pennsylvania, focusing on employment law, business law, litigation, and civil issues. KM&A clients include employees, small businesses, parties in litigation, and people with a variety of legal issues.

NOTICE: All information contained in this statement comes from the Complaint which has been filed as a public record with the court. As dedicated civil rights attorneys, we strongly believe in the public value of telling our clients’ stories: violators can be held accountable, and other silent victims can feel empowered to stand up for their legal rights. Although we make every attempt to verify our clients’ claims, note that the defendant is expected to oppose our client’s position, and the court has not ruled one way or the other as of the date of this statement.